Friday, May 18, 2007

Vanguard decline

You might already have heard, but Vanguard isn't going well. Now SOE bought Sigil out, and fired all employees, to rehire half of them at SOE and keep the game afloat. Apparently Brad McQuaid already despaired of Vanguard in December, and hasn't been to the Sigil offices since.

SOE still claims Vanguard is a success, having sold over 200,000 copies since launch. But somebody at Silkyvenom only counted 65,000 active players in one week, so the retention rate seems to be low. Well, it sure didn't retain me, I had enough of Vanguard after trying the beta, unfinished as it was. Nevertheless SOE had probably the right idea that it's cheaper to buy this unfinished game with good potential and fix it, than to develop a new game from scratch.